The Quartermaster – Gaming Aids for Shadespire

“Come in adventurer! We have a plethora of weapons and tools for sale! Everything the budding adventurer needs……… no refunds, no guarantees….”

With the release of the latest expansions, gamers will have collected a huge amount of cards and bits of pieces – we take a look at some other tools that might come in handy

Today we are going to have a look at some of the variety of gaming aids available for the discerning Shadespire gamer. While everything is totally optional as the core game has enough tokens and is 100% tournament legal (I will mention what isn’t T legal as I discuss each item).

Dice Cups

There 100’s of dice cups in various designs, sizes, shapes and colours available to buy (eBay is good for these). While it is personal preference on the use of a dice cup for gaming, it keeps the table neater and can avoid elaborate rolling techniques that usually involve dice colliding with your gaming pieces or tokens. However, if you prefer the “hands-on” approach then go for it!

Mouse (dice) mats/ trays

Dice mats can be as simple as an old mouse mat or something bought specifically for the game. These tend to be used in conjunction with dice cups as you can upend the cup without making a loud “bang” every time you roll a dice.

Dice trays are for the “hands-on” players. They basically give you somewhere to aim when you roll a dice and keep the dice from scattering across the table. ( Look out for our team using Shadeglass dice mats at the grand clash in March ED!)

Coin Cases

Coin cases

26mm coin cases for your 25mm tokens, stops wear and tear on your tokens. While being handily water resistant for those tabletop drink spills.

Dice Bags

Again, like the cups they come in 100’s of shapes, sizes, designs and colours. They are also readily available from many stores and retailers.

Great for keeping those dice together, while looking cool for when you set up!

Card boxes

Ideal for keeping your carefully selected decks safe, various colours, etc are widely available. Ultra pro is one of the standard available in store manufacturers (any card game shops will likely have these in stock permanently).

Card sleeves

On Facebook, there has been the debate about whether the GW card sleeves are good value. You get enough to make a minimum sized complete deck, whereas other manufacturers (dragon shield is one I’ve seen mentioned numerous times) will give you more sleeves for the money so will cover deck expansion. It is a purely personal preference, while you may get more sleeves for the money with non-GW, you may want the warband design printed on the back (like me!). Again card shops will likely have various stocks of sleeves and where ever sells Shadespire is sure to have some GW ones in!

Acrylic tokens (not tournament legal)

Acrylic tokens (not tournament legal);

I have noticed lots of people selling acrylic tokens for Shadespire. While these are all great and look very nice, they are not tournament legal. If you aren’t planning on taking part in official tournaments though then great! They won’t wear down like card tokens and are inherently waterproof (unlike the coin cases).

Hexagon bases (scenery tiles are not tournament legal);

Great for making scenery to represent the blocked tiles and that’s where it ended (or so I thought!). one of our warbands of the week showed their death warband was on hexagon bases and each miniature was almost a mini diorama. If you’re considering expanding your Shadespire experience then these bases are definitely worth a look for the hobbyists.

Carry Cases

Carry cases;

People carry their miniatures in a wide variety of ways, from Tupperwares with cotton wool or kitchen paper to Figure cases costing £100’s. Luckily there are many smaller cases that will protect your purchases better than Tupperware and cheaper than huge figure cases.

Looking at the two most common (in my local area) cases that will be ideal forShadespire. We have GW’s Skirmish Case which can hold all the boards, cards and some figurest push, with a hard plastic case and a unique foam design they are perfect. KR Multicase also produce a Small Case which is made from water-resistant cardboard and comes with a choice of foam, meaning you can create the perfect foam trays for your requirements.

Card folders

Numerous companies produce card folders (with ultra pro again being arguably the “standard”). These are great for holding your spare cards in some semblance of order for easier deck building.
While there may be many more gaming aids that have not been covered, there will be another Gaming Aids post in future as more products become available.
Remember, every gaming aid is personal to you, if you don’t like it, there’ll be another somewhere else!